In a new study, a large design firm responsible for creating corporate offices world-wide has found that most modern workspaces, while built to foster collaboration and ties between workers, may stifle our ability to focus and get things done.

Global design firm Gensler found that companies’ attempts to provide space for staff to collaborate– often via open-plan layouts or low cubicles–have compromised workers’ ability to concentrate. The study, which surveyed 2,035 employees at a variety of firms, found that the most effective workplaces include both quiet spaces and collaborative areas, and give employees a choice of where they’d like to work at any given time.

In one surprising finding, workers are spending more time in focus work, such as reading email or writing code, than in previous years, despite office layouts that seem more conducive to group work. The researchers say that that poorer focus may mean it takes longer to complete thought-intensive tasks.

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